Sponsor Nabs Stem Cell Post

Kristen Philipkoski
12.17.04

SAN FRANCISCO -- A real estate developer who spent $3 million of his own money to get the California stem cell initiative on the state's ballot is now in charge of doling out the $3 billion the program will lavish on stem cell research over the next decade.

The newly inaugurated Institute for Regenerative Medicine's independent citizens oversight committee, or ICOC, voted unanimously to elect Robert Klein, the only nominee, as its chair. The ICOC also elected Dr. Edward Penhoet, president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and a founder of Chiron, as the vice-chair over two other candidates.

Some members of the public who attended the meeting were concerned that the committee had just one chair candidate, a non-scientist, to choose from, and urged them to postpone the vote.

But many committee members who are scientists themselves lauded Klein as someone with a passion for the project who has already proven his skill.

"I think it's clear to all of us the extreme degree of responsibility and accountability we have to carry out the work before us," said Dr. Philip Pizzo, dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine. "It requires the skills that Mr. Klein has garnered."

Klein became active in promoting stem cell research because his son was diagnosed with diabetes in 2001, his mother has Alzheimer's disease and his father died from heart disease.

Several other scientists and doctors, including David Baltimore, president of the California Institute of Technology; Dr. David Kessler, dean of the University of San Francisco School of Medicine; and Dr. Brian Henderson, dean of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, also voiced wholehearted support for Klein.

When Proposition 71 passed Nov. 2, it mandated that the state's governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer and controller nominate a chair for the Institute of Regenerative Medicine. They all chose Klein. During a press conference before the oversight committee meeting, reporters asked California state controller Steve Westly why he nominated a non-scientist for the position.

"I happen to think Bob Klein has exactly the right skill set," Westly said. "And anytime Phil Angelides, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Cruz Bustamante agree on something, it has to be good," he said, listing California's treasurer, governor and lieutenant governor.

Klein is more than just a real estate developer. He has worked in government for the past 20 years, allocating $2 billion in government bonds for low-income housing development. He also helped get $1.5 billion in supplemental federal funding for diabetes, and he has a law degree from Stanford.

One member of the committee, Leon Thal, was absent. The rest of the 27-member board was inaugurated at the meeting Friday. All members present voted for Klein.

Critics in the audience also raised concerns that the text of Proposition 71 did not allow for enough openness and public scrutiny.

Following complaints from the Center for Genetics and Society and others that the public had not been given enough notice about Friday's meeting, the state treasurer and controller postponed part of the scheduled discussion, which was to include discourse on financial and ethical responsibility. Westly said another meeting would be scheduled in early January.

The race for vice chair was decisive, but not unanimous. Dr. Frank Staggers, a urologist and former president of the California Medical Association, received four votes. Joan Samuelson, an attorney and ICOC committee member who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1987 and founded the Parkinson's Action Network, received no votes. Penhoet received 22 votes.